A retired antiques dealer suffering from a life threatening condition died
after he was sent home from hospital by NHS doctors who said he had a bad
back.

Raymond Levene, 67, died after blunders by doctors at Charing Cross Hospital, west London, resulted in him recieving poor care, officials admitted.

An official “Serious Untoward Incident Report”, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, concluded that senior staff had failed to act, or closely monitor Mr Levene’s condition, despite evidence it was rapidly deteriorating.

According to the report, Mr Levene, of Fulham, west London, was initially diagnosed by doctors with having “non-specific lower back pain”, thought to have been caused by stretching.

But he was rushed back to hospital 24 hours after his condition worsened, where doctors found an “infra-renal abdominal aortic aneurysm”, a potentially life-threatening condition.

Two days later he died from a cardiac arrest after the three-inch aneurysm burst. Hospital officials have apologised to his family for care which they admitted was “not of a suitable standard”.

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The retired antique dealer's family are now consulting lawyers about pursing legal action against Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

On Sunday night Miss Levene, 37, of Battersea, south-west London, said she was angry at her father’s poor treatment.

“My father bled to death in the hospital because of basic mistakes by staff,” the interior designer said.

“I am angry my father received substandard care. There is no money value anyone can put on his life. It beggars belief that these things can happen.”

Despite the report stating his condition “should have prompted more frequent observations”, the hospital has admitted that no staff member had faced disciplinary action over the blunders.

The hospital has since overhauled its procedures.

According to the 27-page incident report, signed off by the Trust’s Medical Director, the pensioner went to the Accident and Emergency department on April 25 last year complaining of back pain.

The father-of-three was seen by a doctor, where he reported undertaking “stretching exercises” the previous day.

No urgent medical problems were found and the doctor diagnosed “non specific lower back pain” before discharging him with anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers.

But he was rushed back to hospital by ambulance the following day after his pain increased.

Neurosurgeons ordered MRI scans, which uncovered the aneurysm, or a major artery threatening to burst, but further tests showed no signs of rupture.

His condition later worsened and he was sent back to A&E. Despite “signs of deterioration” and dropping blood pressure, he was not seen by a senior vascular registrar who could have ordered life-saving surgery.

Hours later, the pensioner went into cardiac arrest and despite doctors’ efforts, died at 10.30am on April 28.

The report makes clear that senior staff failed to make adequate checks as his condition worsened or order follow scans which could have indicated “surgery was required”.

It calls for an overhaul in procedures and treatments including enhanced treatment for “deteriorating” patients, better vigilance from doctors and the introduction of more “robust” handover between staff.

In a letter to the family, Anne Mottram, the hospital’s director of governance, apologised for the pensioner’s poor care and the “distress it has caused”.

“The Trust has investigated the circumstances leading up to the death of your father and … I am sorry to say that some of the care provided during the admission was not of a suitable standard,” she wrote.

On Sunday night an Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust spokeswoman confirmed that no disciplinary action had been taken “at this stage” but stated that the hospital had tightened procedures and introduced more rigorous teaching.

“We would like to express our utmost sympathies to the family of Mr Levene for their loss and apologise sincerely that the care we provided on this occasion fell below our expected standards,” she said.

“We are working with the family to finalise our investigation. We remain committed to making improvements to our services and learning from such tragic events and have made a number of changes as a result of this incident."